New Here

[Tater]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I have been contemplating filing bankruptcy for awhile now. Like a large chunk of the nation, we have fallen on hard times due job loss. We have been robbing Peter to pay Paul for way too long now. We simply can't keep going on this same road anymore.

We have met with one bankruptcy attorney but honestly didn't care for him. We have a consult with a recommended attorney on May 7th. Unfortunately, the attorney is out of town for a week and we had to work around my hubby's work schedule. I talked with the office manager for a long time and felt a little at ease after our conversation.

I have to download the initial packet to fill out before our consultation. It seems pretty basic. We are over the median income in our state so I am hoping we qualify for a Chapter 7. We did the means test online and passed it with the deductions allowed. We are taking seven months of income with us to the consultation. I've been researching lawyers for a long time and I am hoping this one will be it for us.

It's nice to know we are not alone in this process. Now that we have made the decision to actually file, the feelings of guilt and shame have increased a bit. I know we are making the right decision for us but it's still difficult. I just wanted to introduce ourselves and say thanks for having such a wonderful forum.

[btbeme]

Welcome!

My fist advice would be to consult with as many attorneys as you can until you find the right fit for you and your situation. If you are over median income the attorney should be experienced in making sure the filing is properly shaped so it is bulletproof. Any attorney who says that this is easy should be questioned closely, as it is possible, but not easy.

Second, I strongly recommend shaping your future after BK. A successful discharge is only the beginning of the new lease on life, so treat the BK process appropriately and spend the necessary time to plan and adjust your lifestyle to work within the boundaries. You might not like all of the solutions you have to apply, but I suggest taking ALL possible solutions into consideration will be of great value to you.

Let us know how we can help. Since you are over median, it would be a great help to others if you were to post your story as you go along so everyone can learn from your experiences.

[Tater]

Welcome!

My fist advice would be to consult with as many attorneys as you can until you find the right fit for you and your situation. If you are over median income the attorney should be experienced in making sure the filing is properly shaped so it is bulletproof. Any attorney who says that this is easy should be questioned closely, as it is possible, but not easy.

Second, I strongly recommend shaping your future after BK. A successful discharge is only the beginning of the new lease on life, so treat the BK process appropriately and spend the necessary time to plan and adjust your lifestyle to work within the boundaries. You might not like all of the solutions you have to apply, but I suggest taking ALL possible solutions into consideration will be of great value to you.

Let us know how we can help. Since you are over median, it would be a great help to others if you were to post your story as you go along so everyone can learn from your experiences.

Hi btbeme,

Thanks for the advice as I was wondering if we should try to meet with other lawyers over the next few weeks. I was really impressed with the Office Manager of this law firm. No, she did not let on that it would be an easy road for us since we are over median. That is something that will be addressed during our consultation. In fact, she mentioned that is the reason why we have to bring seven months worth of income statements.

Yes, we are in the process of creating a budget for after BK life. It really depends upon which chapter we can file. We haven't used credit cards in over a year and stopped paying on them a couple of months ago. We have two car payments and realize we will probably have to give one vehicle up during the process. That is not a big deal to us. I filed our taxes and we are getting around $2,400 back which will go to pay attorney fees. That is on my list of questions for the attorney to see if we can exempt the whole thing.

We have made major life style changes in the last year and we are prepared to make more. We don't have cable anymore or a landline phone. We are down to cell phones and just a basic package and phones. We don't eat out that much and have learned to shop at Goodwill stores for our clothes. I truly love finding a bargain there! We have tried to take a positive approach to a bad situation. I have looked for employment with no such luck but the search goes on. I am learning lots just reading the forums.

[TheBajan]

Welcome,
I also want to encourage you to meet with several lawyers. I was comfortable with a couple of the ones we met with and almost decided to go with one of them... now I am so glad I didn't. It takes several different perspectives looking at your case for you to really understand what all of your options are. I can't stress enough what a difference it made in our case by finding and retaining the right attorney. Keep us posted and best wishes to you!
The Bajan

[pamkev]

Welcome,
As others have echo get several lawyer advice we saw 4 and have it narrowed down to two. Don't feel guilty as like you we also were robbing Peter to pay Paul when my hubbys work got cut in half. l sold all our stocks just to make payments even thought about using his 401k but stopped short of that and I'm glad we did Please keep us posted how it is going you are among friends here/ Pam

[AngelinaCat]

I also will now "fifth" the motion to see other attorneys. My husband picked the first one he saw on the Internet. We went and had what we thought was a very good initial interview, question and answer session with her. We retained her on the spot.

As time went on we found that she either didn't inform us of many things that we should not have done, or was careless about it. When she lost her main office helper, 'Sue'--who at least communicated with us--and 'Adam' replaced her, communication was zilch. To give the attorney credit, when she did pass information, it was usually good. This was a rare occurrence, though.

There were many things that happened with our case that should NOT have happened, and cost us much more than needed, has she and her staff been more diligent in their education of us, her clients.

We knew NOTHING of this forum, BTW. It wasn't until we got hit with an AP, and the attorney unresponsive, that I found the correct combination of keywords to do a Google Search and found this wonderful site. 'Hub and I have been here ever since, trying to help those coming after us to not make the same mistakes we did.

[Bell30656]

That first consultation is free so take advantage of it. I interviewed a bunch of lawyers. The truth is I was borderline between chapter 7 and 13. The first few lawyers kept telling me chapter 7 wouldn't happen. There were others that said it could be a chapter 7. One lawyer told me straight out if I wanted it be a 7 here is what he needed to see... He got the job.

If you don't like what the first few say, keep visiting attorneys. There are sure a bunch of them.

[Tater]

Thanks for the welcome and kind advice from all! I have contacted a couple of other attorneys and made initial consult appointments. One was able to do evening this week to work around hubby's work schedule. Another one will be next Monday. I spent the day gathering info together so I will be ready for all appointments. I will finish that up tomorrow. I've had mixed emotions today but I think I will feel better after we meet with another attorney. The first one we met with really seemed disinterested so we knew he was not for us.

I'm so paranoid that I took the means test again using the actual six month average income and we passed. We are in the negative by several hundred dollars. The only thing I'm truly worried about right now is our mortgage payment. We are current but we are fighting some outstanding fees from a few years ago when our mortgage was sold to another lender. Things were posted incorrectly and we have been trying to straighten out ever since. I was honest about this with all the lawyer's offices I talked to today. I have the paperwork to back my claims up so we will see what happens with that. I sent out an additional letter to the mortgage company last week with copies of mortgage statements from the previous lender and proof of our payments. The story keeps changing on the end of the mortgage company. I am hoping the lawyer we choose can help us out on that one. I really don't want to pay fees we actually don't owe.

[Bell30656]

You can also go watch some 341 meetings. I didn't do this before selecting my attorney but I did do it after I filed but before I went to my own 341.

[AngelinaCatHub]

And to back the Mrs. .........

Welcome and yes we were the biggest of Efff Upsss, possible and not get dismissed. We knew nothing and when the realization hit us in the face, could hardly believe our situation. We had money that we wouldn't miss. Then after a nine year legal struggle with an adversary of mine, we hit bottom. Won the war for sure but lost many expensive battles.

BK is a business decision as well preached here. You did not go into this to harm a person, or take unfair advantage. If you wish to place blame, I have a name in D.C. you could use, but let's just call it the system. The System has let us down and you are only the foam at the top of what will be coming in bankruptcy.

Mrs. pointed you folks out to me, and stated "they sound like they have a head on their shoulders". Trust me, she does not compliment many and never me. lol.

So, you found the right place and we will never purposely mislead you. We give no legal advice, only opinion, experience, and knowledge. Welcome to our Family. 'Hub

[Tater]

Welcome and yes we were the biggest of Efff Upsss, possible and not get dismissed. We knew nothing and when the realization hit us in the face, could hardly believe our situation. We had money that we wouldn't miss. Then after a nine year legal struggle with an adversary of mine, we hit bottom. Won the war for sure but lost many expensive battles.

BK is a business decision as well preached here. You did not go into this to harm a person, or take unfair advantage. If you wish to place blame, I have a name in D.C. you could use, but let's just call it the system. The System has let us down and you are only the foam at the top of what will be coming in bankruptcy.

Mrs. pointed you folks out to me, and stated "they sound like they have a head on their shoulders". Trust me, she does not compliment many and never me. lol.

So, you found the right place and we will never purposely mislead you. We give no legal advice, only opinion, experience, and knowledge. Welcome to our Family. 'Hub

Your post made me laugh and cry! Tell the Mrs., we appreciate the complement! I am glad I did find this forum recently because there are conflicting stories on the internet of what is not allowed or allowed. After we met with the first lawyer, we were discouraged and questioned our choice. We know we have a lot of things in our favor in some ways like we don't owe any family members, no property transfers or gifts, etc. I liked the point you made about this being a business decision. I never thought of it that way.

You know I used to work in accounting and collections so I think that is why I am having such a hard time with the acceptance factor. I also know we haven't been trying to live beyond our means, just trying to survive. Honestly, with the changes we have made over the last year, our relationship has gotten stronger. We appreciate what we have a lot more and realize we have what we need. We have a roof over our head, gas in the car, food on the table, and electricity. I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences with us.